Critique of "Glossolalia"

I looked this word, glossolalia, up in the dictionary. Webster defines it as “profuse and often emotionally charged speech that mimics coherent speech but is usually unintelligible to the listener and that is uttered in some states of religious ecstasy and in some schizophrenic states.” Given this definition, I expect there to be some form of this in the story. It must be understood, then, that the italicized passages are a form of this. However, it is not clear. Are these actually being spoken by Charlie when he drifts into sleep? Does Lewis hear him? From what I can tell, Lewis does not hear these. It seems apparent, also, that the italicized passages are the stories of Old Man Pellum. However, we only get three of them, and from them we are able to piece together bits of Pellum’s birth, which seems historic and cataclysmic. I really want to know more though, and it seems like this has the makings of a very interesting and epic piece of conventional fiction. The experiment no doubt lies in these parallel passages, but as of now I feel they are too conservative. Aside from them being there, and the apparent connection between the two at the end (“bound to be either famous or crazy”).

The writing in this is strong and precise. The sentences have force and I enjoy reading them and rereading them. Good job.